Toonami And Crunchyroll Are Teaming Up

What are the two most popular sources of anime? For streaming it’s Crunchyroll, and for broadcast TV it’s Toonami. What if they joined forces to bring the best anime around to both services? It’s now a reality…the partnership was announced this morning.

Anime that was formerly exclusive to Crunchyroll will appear on Toonami. Toonami’s most popular shows will be streamable on Crunchyroll. And the two will pool their resources to create new, original productions in the future.

“Our partnership with Crunchyroll will open up exciting new possibilities for both of us,” says Jason DeMarco, SVP and creative director for on-air at Adult Swim and Toonami. “This will expand Toonami’s already great programming to include even more premiere and original anime. It’s a great time to be an anime fan!”

“Our mission is to grow anime globally, which makes Adult Swim the perfect partner as Toonami has been incredibly influential in the growth of anime here in the U.S.,” adds Crunchyroll GM Joanne Waage. “We can’t wait to show our fans what we have in store for them through this new programming partnership. Expect new co-productions, expanded distribution of dubs, and generally more accessible anime!”

In an age of embittered exclusivity deals and heavy corporate competition, it’s nice to see two brands playing nice in a way that helps the consumer and the industry they serve. Except…it doesn’t entirely count here. Crunchyroll and Adult Swim fall under the same umbrella; they are both owned by WarnerMedia, the giant conglomerate formed by the just-approved merger of WB and AT&T. It’s actually a self-serving move, but we can pretend that’s not the case…

The first joint project between Toonami and Crunchyroll is already underway…the Blade Runner anime announced last year is a co-production between the two and will appear on both platforms.